Barcode Scanner Integration

By enabling barcode scanner integration in Front Desk, users are able to use a barcode scanner as an input device in a number of areas. Most importantly this functionality can be used to scan an item during the Receipting or Billing process to input the scanned item details. Using a barcode scanner is particularly useful for practices selling products, but you may also wish to create your own barcodes that represent your service items as well.

The areas you can use a barcode scanner include:

Receipt

Bill

Searching for an item code

Editing/creating item code

Stock Arrival

Stock Adjustments

A barcode scanner can be considered similar to a keyboard, it is an input device that can enter characters and numbers by scanning a code. There are no particular brands of models of barcode scanner that we recommend, however if you are looking for a barcode scanner there are some key features it should have:

The ability to scan EAN13 barcodes (standard Australian supermarket barcode).

These features are considered standard for any modern barcode scanner available. For comparison, the barcode scanner we used in testing is a Symbol Technologies LS2208, which includes these features.

Once you have a barcode scanner connected to your computer, the next step is to configure your barcode scanner with the ‘Header’ and ‘Terminating’ codes mentioned above.As the process of programming these characters changes depending on your barcode scanner, please refer to your barcode scanner manual for configuration instructions.

The header and terminating characters you configure should be two random symbols you have little chance of accidentally entering in sequence on your keyboard. For example ‘*^’ for the header and ‘&~’ for the terminating codes.Essentially these help determine when your barcode scanner is inputting information, and when it has stopped.

The best method to test if your barcode scanner has been configured correctly is to open notepad or Microsoft Word and try scanning a barcode. You should first see your header characters, followed by the barcode digits you scanned, then the terminating characters on the end.
Configuring Front Desk for Barcode Scanner Integration

To enable barcode scanning in Front Desk go to System Information, then from the ‘Bar Code Scanning’ tab select Enable Listening for Bar Code Scanning.

Click OK to confirm your settings, then select your preferences on how your barcode scanner behaves on each screen. For example in the Billing screen, you can choose to automatically add the item to be billed, or you can simply select the item to be added manually.

Assigning Barcodes to an Item Code

With your base configuration complete, the final step is to assign your barcode to their corresponding item codes.

From the Item Code window open the item you wish to assign a barcode. Click within the ‘Extended Code (Bar Code) field, then scan the barcode. With the barcode entered, close and save the item code to complete the configuration.

You are now ready to use your barcode scanner in Front Desk. Simply scan your barcode from one of the ‘barcode aware’ screens listed and it will input the item appropriately.

Barcode scanning is a great way to process items quickly and accurately, so I hope you find this article useful.

The only issue we experience is when a practitioner wants to bill a different amount than the default for the patients fee category. Is it possible to add the option of right clicking on the item after it's been scanned and changing the net fee and payment amount?

It is a great feature, and is particularly useful when selling stock items. You could also take it a step further and create your own barcodes (outside of Front Desk) for service items as well.

I don't feel the option to right-click and edit the item line itself has many advantages (for most users) over the current process of double-clicking on an item line to remove it, then re-adding the item with the updated details. That said we are always happy to have an open discussion if there is interest from our users.

In regards to your current workflow, if you are using a barcode scanner but need to regularly adjust the pricing of items you could change the settings under System Information to 'Select Item Only' upon scanning as below. This means it won't automatically add the item, and you can make adjustments first.

If you need to occasionally bill a patient under a different fee category (such as Workcover), you could also set up a separate Billing Account with an Override Fee Category. This would allow you to select the 'Workcover' account while billing, then the items added would be using the Workcover rates automatically.

These solutions might be suitable depending on your particular configuration and needs. Please open a support case using the link below if you would like to explore these options further: